U.S. patent application number 10/132158 was filed with the patent office on 2003-10-30 for automatic document-feeding apparatus.
Invention is credited to Chen, Bi-Chun, Chiang, Shu-Ya.
Application Number | 20030201595 10/132158 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 29248701 |
Filed Date | 2003-10-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030201595 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chiang, Shu-Ya ; et
al. |
October 30, 2003 |
Automatic document-feeding apparatus
Abstract
An automatic document-feeding apparatus is disclosed. The
automatic document-feeding apparatus comprises means for picking up
and transporting document sheets, means for separating document
sheets into a sequence of transportation, and means for pressing
document sheets. The means for picking up and transporting document
sheets contact and transport document sheets and the means for
separating document sheets comprise an incline plane used to
receive and support the document sheet being transported from the
means for picking up and transporting document sheets. The means
for pressing document sheets press the document sheets to keep the
document sheets and the incline plane in tight contact.
Inventors: |
Chiang, Shu-Ya; (Taichung
City, TW) ; Chen, Bi-Chun; (Chang-Hua, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
POWELL, GOLDSTEIN, FRAZER & MURPHY LLP
P.O. BOX 97223
WASHINGTON
DC
20090-7223
US
|
Family ID: |
29248701 |
Appl. No.: |
10/132158 |
Filed: |
April 26, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
271/121 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65H 3/5223 20130101;
B65H 2404/6942 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
271/121 |
International
Class: |
B65H 003/52 |
Claims
What is claim is:
1. An automatic document-feeding apparatus, said apparatus
comprising: means for picking up and transporting document sheets,
said means for picking up and transporting document sheets contact
and transport document sheets; means for separating document sheets
into a sequence of transportation, said means for separating
document sheets comprise an incline plane used to receive and
support the document sheet being transported from said means for
picking up and transporting document sheets; and means for pressing
document sheets, said means for pressing document sheets press the
document sheets to keep the document sheets and said incline plane
in tight contact.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means for
picking up and transporting document sheets comprise a roller for
picking up document sheets and a roller for transporting document
sheets, said roller for transporting document sheets receives
document sheets from said roller for picking up document
sheets.
3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said roller for
picking up document sheets and said roller for transporting
document sheets are drove by a motor.
4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said roller for
picking up document sheets and said roller for transporting
document sheets are drove by two motors individually.
5. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said rollers
comprise rubber rollers.
6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means for
pressing document sheets comprise a pressing plate
7. An automatic document-feeding apparatus, said apparatus
comprising: means for picking up document sheets, said means for
picking up document sheets contact and pick up document sheets;
means for separating document sheets into a sequence of
transportation, said means for separating document sheets comprise
an incline plane used to receive and support the document sheet
being transported from said means for picking up document sheets;
means for pressing document sheets, said means for pressing
document sheets press the document sheets to keep the document
sheets and said incline plane in tight contact; and means for
transporting document sheets, said means for transporting document
sheets receive and transport the document sheets being transported
from said means for separating document sheets.
8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said means for
picking up document sheets comprise a roller.
9. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said means for
separating document sheets comprises a supporting pad and springs
pushing said supporting pad against said means for pressing
document sheets.
10. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said means for
pressing document sheets comprise a pressing plate.
11. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said means for
transporting document sheets comprise a roller.
12. An automatic document-feeding apparatus, said apparatus
comprising: a first roller, said first roller contacts and picks up
document sheets; a supporting pad, said supporting pad comprises an
incline plane used to receive and support the document sheet being
transported from said first roller and a cave surface; means for
pressing document sheets, said means for pressing document sheets
press the document sheets to keep the document sheets and said
incline plane in tight contact; and a second roller contacting said
cave surface, said second roller receives and transports the
document sheets being transported from said incline plane.
13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said first roller
comprises a rubber roller.
14. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said supporting
pad comprises a rubber pad and springs pushing said rubber pad
against said second roller and said means for pressing document
sheets.
15. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said means for
pressing document sheets comprise a pressing plate.
16. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said second roller
comprises a rubber roller.
17. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said first and
second rollers are drove by a single motor.
18. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said first and
second rollers are drove by two motors individually.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to an automatic
document-feeding apparatus, and more particularly to an automatic
document-feeding apparatus with superior capability of document
pagination.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] It is publicly known to use a document feeding apparatus
so-called as an automatic document feeder (ADF) in order to supply
automatically a document to a document reading portion in an image
forming apparatus. The automatic document feeder (ADF) is a useful
device for documenting image input system such as image scanner. In
the application of the so-called "Paper-Feed" image input device,
the automatic document feeder functions to transport page by page
documents containing image data, into the scanning area of the
image input device.
[0005] FIG. 1 shows the basic structure of a conventional automatic
document feeder. As shown in the figure, the automatic document
feeder comprises a pagination roller 102, a pickup roller 104 and a
retard pad 108. The retard pad 108 is pressed against the
pagination roller 102 by a pressure spring 106. A stack of
documents 110 are mounted on bottom of the pickup roller 104.
[0006] Ideally, when the pickup roller 104 starts to rotate, a
document 110 at the top of the stack of the documents is fetched by
the pickup roller 104 to the retard pad 108 and all documents other
than the one at the top of the stack are stopped since only the one
at the top of the stack can contact the pickup roller 104. The
document at the top of the stack is then transported to the retard
pad 108 and under the pagination roller 102 by the pickup roller
104.
[0007] However, the conventional automatic document feeder
described above indeed presents a problem which would harm the
function of an image scanner. The problem is that the continuous
fed documents are not separated well when the pickup roller 104
picks up and sends more than one document sheet once. That is, more
than two document sheets are transported to the retard pad 108 and
under the pagination roller 102 usually. The excess fed document
sheets undoubtedly would impede the normal operation the whole
machine since the excess fed document sheets could hinder the
feeding of the following document sheets or jam in the automatic
document feeder. Therefore, it is desirable to provide an automatic
document-feeding apparatus with superior capability of document
pagination to overcome the problem of the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an
automatic document-feeding apparatus with superior capability of
document pagination.
[0009] It is another object of this invention to provide a reliable
automatic document-feeding apparatus.
[0010] To achieve these objects, and in accordance with the purpose
of the invention, the invention provide an automatic
document-feeding apparatus with superior capability of document
pagination. In one embodiment of this invention, the apparatus
comprises means for picking up and transporting document sheets,
means for separating document sheets into a sequence of
transportation, and means for pressing document sheets. The means
for picking up and transporting document sheets contact and
transport document sheets and the means for separating document
sheets comprise an incline plane used to receive and support the
document sheet being transported from the means for picking up and
transporting document sheets. The means for pressing document
sheets press the document sheets to keep the document sheets and
the incline plane in tight contact.
[0011] In another embodiment of this invention, the automatic
document-feeding apparatus of this invention comprises means for
picking up document sheets, means for separating document sheets
into a sequence of transportation, means for pressing document
sheets, and means for transporting document sheets. The means for
picking up document sheets contact and pick up document sheets and
the means for separating document sheets comprise an incline plane
used to receive and support the document sheet being transported
from the means for picking up document sheets. The means for
pressing document sheets press the document sheets to keep the
document sheets and the incline plane in tight contact and the
means for transporting document sheets receive and transport the
document sheets being transported from the means for separating
document sheets.
[0012] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general
description and the following detailed description are exemplary
and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as
claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages
of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same
becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed
description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings, wherein:
[0014] FIG. 1 shows the basic structure of a conventional automatic
document feeder; and
[0015] FIG. 2 shows an automatic document-feeding apparatus of this
invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0016] It is to be understood and appreciated that the apparatus
described below do not cover a complete system. The present
invention can be practiced in conjunction with various hardware
that are used in the art, and only so much of the commonly
practiced components and steps are included herein as are necessary
to provide an understanding of the present invention.
[0017] The present invention will be described in detail with
reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the
drawings are in greatly simplified form.
[0018] Referring to FIG. 2, an automatic document-feeding apparatus
200 of this invention is shown. In one embodiment of this
invention, the automatic document-feeding apparatus 200 comprises
means for picking up and transporting document sheets, means for
separating document sheets into a sequence of transportation and
means for pressing document sheets comprising a pressing plate 212.
The means for picking up and transporting document sheets comprise
rollers 202 and 204 as well as at least one motor (not shown)
driving the rollers 202 and 204. The roller 204 comprising a rubber
roller is used to contact, pick up and drive the top sheet of a
stack of document sheets 210. The roller 202 comprising a rubber
roller is used to transport the document sheet from the roller 204
to the scanning area of an image scanner. The roller 202 and 204
could be drove by a single motor or two motors individually and
roll synchronously. The means for separating document sheets into a
sequence of transportation comprises a supporting pad 208 as well
as a plurality of spring 206 pushing the supporting pad 208 against
to the roller 202. The pressing plate 212 provides the document
sheets 210 with a downward pressing force so that the document
sheets 210 can be pressed and the front edges of the document
sheets 210 can keep a tight contact with the supporting pad 208.
The pressing plate 212 can be pivoted on a pivot 205 which is also
the pivot of the roller 204. The pressing plate 212 can also be
mounted somewhere else. The supporting pad 208 preferably comprises
an incline plane 208a and a cave surface 208b. The incline plane
208a provides the document sheets 210 with an upward pushing force
and a separating force so that the top one of the document sheets
210 can keep a tight contact with the pressing plate 212 and the
document sheets 210 can be separated into a sequence of
transportation while the roller 204 rolls. The cave surface 208b
provides the document sheet 210 being transported with a support so
that the document sheet 210 can contact with the roller 202
tightly. The cave surface 208b contacts the roller 202 while no
document sheet is inserted therebetween so as to provide the
document sheet 210 with a friction force. The springs 206 support
and push the supporting pad 208.
[0019] Other embodiments of the invention will appear to those
skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and
practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the
specification and examples to be considered as exemplary only, with
a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the
following claims.
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